The island lies almost 12 miles west of Kintyre, a peninsula in western Scotland.

The island has benefited greatly from EU funding previously, particularly in relation to a modern harbour and connections to the National Grid.

A spokesperson told the Herald Scotland: “In the immediate aftermath of the referendum result, people on Rathlin talked, like people all over the UK, of little else.

“And very quickly talk turned, only half jokingly, to new ways of thinking about the island’s relationship with its neighbouring islands. A unilateral declaration of independence worked for some, but others looked east and north to Rathlin’s historic friends in Scotland.”